Strickland is expected to scrutinize the economic-stimulus plan, which includes other GOP-added provisions he considers less than desirable, such as spending $200 million of the state's $1.1 billion rainy-day fund.

At the same time, the governor is eager to sign into law a bill approved yesterday that relaxes a number of gun laws, allowing people to carry firearms in the cab of a vehicle and prohibiting landlords from telling tenants they cannot own guns.

"The governor is looking forward to signing this legislation, which he believes will offer law-abiding gun owners appropriate and legal protections," spokesman Keith Dailey said.

The jobs bill, which Strickland first proposed in his State of the State address in February, will pump millions of dollars into a variety of economic sectors.

The measure would spend $400 million on local road and bridge projects and $250 million for internships and cooperative-education programs for college graduates. Millions more would be steered toward advanced energy and logistics and distribution projects, biomedical research, tax credits for historic buildings and bioproducts development.

Voters also will be asked in November to approve a $400 million companion bond issue to renew the Clean Ohio Fund for industrial land cleanup, farmland preservation and green space.

The House, by an 88-5 vote, agreed with Senate changes to the bill, sending it to Strickland.

House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, is not happy with a Senate provision that bans the use of $100 million in biomedical-related investments on human cloning, but he let it slide, knowing that Strickland planned to veto the language.

"People out there are in difficult circumstances across the state, and the longer we delay, the longer we delay the recovery of our economy," Husted said.

Strickland, Dailey said, "has serious concerns about severely limiting the ability to conduct life-saving research through the language which goes well beyond just banning what is the common-sense definition of human cloning."

Strickland hasn't yet said what he will do about the $200 million in rainy-day funds that the Senate wants to use to replace money that came from the Ohio Turnpike.

"Obviously the rainy-day fund is designed to be used for emergency purposes, but we don't know what the future will ultimately hold," Dailey said.

As for the gun bill, groups representing county sheriffs, police chiefs, county prosecutors and officers have spoken out against it, concerned that their safety is threatened by a provision allowing anyone to carry a gun inside a car, with the ammo stored nearby.

Robert Cornwell, director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association, told the Associated Press this week, "Obviously, he (Strickland) does not support law enforcement and its concerns."

Dailey responded: "(Strickland) obviously respects law enforcement's opinion, but in this instance, there's a difference of opinion on the policy."

The bill, pushed by the National Rifle Association, also would establish a new "castle doctrine" that presumes that a person acted in self defense when shooting someone who entered his or her home unlawfully. Supporters say it will protect the innocent from facing charges, but prosecutors have argued that it more likely will aid criminals.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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